At The Buzzer… D’Angelo Russell wasn’t going to play in the game after learning of the death of his grandmother today.

He pushed through and came anyway.

“I get goosebumps talking about the way the game ended for him,” Luke said afterward.

Russell struggled with his shot throughout the night. Luke brought him back in with just a few minutes left to go to help close the game. Both teams trading leads on every possession, battling back and forth neither able to pull away.

Russell hit a three to take the lead, but Ricky Rubio would score his first and only points to take the lead back. The two teams exchanged more points as crunch time wound down.

It came down to a single defensive stand for the Lakers. Rubio running shotclock, which was 8 seconds ahead of the game clock. He attacked to his left to get into the paint, but Larry Nance came over to reject the shot, getting the ball into Russell’s hands. Russell immediately attacked, drew the D and kicked out to Metta, who measured and missed a game winner.

Julius Randle chased down the board, found Russell wide open on the sideline. He launched the three, saw it hit the rim and then drop it at the buzzer.

Russell pointed to his family. His teammates bear hugged him. After the celebration, he ran into the stands and into the arms of his family.

“That’s God making that shot,” Russell said.

With the 110-109 win, the Lakers have a four-game win streak for the first time in four seasons.

Russell – -- He pushed out the break off the Nance block, collapsed the D and kicked to Metta and watch as he shot the three. When it came up short and Randle grabbed the board, Russell ran to the wing and called for the ball. Randle found him open. He measured it, let it fly, held the pose as the ball rattled in and out. He stepped forward trying to talk it in with his body and then it dropped back in at the buzzer for the win. He just started walking down court, but his teammates mobbed him. After that, he ran off the court and into the stands to the arms of his family. It wasn’t a good shooting game. He got tapped a few times on shots that went in and out. He had a few turnovers. Still, somehow he got the shot to fall when the Lakers needed it most. I love that he attacked in transition and found Metta for a wide open look. It didn’t go, but we had the Wolves on their heels, got the board off that and he was wide open after the scramble. He had also hit a big three with 3 minutes left in the fourth. Those were his only two makes from beyond the arc in the game and they came at a vital sequence. Defensively, he had some good hands out there tonight knocking balls loose to get stops. He said they are trying to focus on that end and let the offense come. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-19 shooting (2-8 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 5 turnovers, 3 steals and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He got tapped on a three on our first possession. Off the mark on the slow cut play to Clarkson for a turnover. He collapsed the D on the drive and kicked to Clarkson for three. He missed a three straight away. He scored on a reverse off a sweet feed from Julius. He attacked down the middle of the paint and flipped in a layup over the help D. He deflected a pass on D to force a turnover. He missed a flip-in attempt. He attacked again and missed the layup. He missed a good look at an elbow jumper. He iso’d and missed an 18-footer up against the clock. He tried to thread a pass under the hoop, turnover. He attacked off the screen, slammed on the brakes on a fake layup, spun the other way and scored the 6-footer. Turnover, dribbling a ball off a foot. He missed a corner three. Second Half: Great move to get around his man baseline, but he missed the easy layup. Great reach on Towns driving to strip him. He got tapped on a 12-foot floater. His interior bounce pass was picked off (should have lobbed instead). He zipped a pass to Nance for a dunk. He missed a corner three in transition. He picked up a charge from Towns off ball. He curled into the paint, pumped and drew FTs, he made both. He dunked off the leak out to avoid getting blocked. He stripped a man on one end, but missed the three on the other. He worked the two-man game and hit a three to take the lead with 3 minutes left. He missed a floater. He tried to thread a pass to Clarkson who wasn’t paying attention, turnover with 2 minutes left. He missed a three. Randle found him off the final scramble, he line it up, fired, got the soft bounce and the game-winning three fell.

Randle -- -- Some great work on the offensive boards down the stretch. He got a couple for scores, but then also had that one off the Metta miss before finding Russell for the game winner. Julius then bear hugged Russell after the make. “It was a long rebound, I got it and they all surrounded me, then it kind of cleared up,” Randle said. Love seeing the guys have something like this they can bond over. Randle also had a big And-1 dunk down the stretch as well as those offensive boards. This was a back-and-forth battle down the stretch again…and again, they found a way to win it. Good for them. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls in 27:35. He was a -5. The Action: He attacked across the lane and no-looked a sweet bounce pass to Russell cutting baseline for the score. Nice job crashing the glass to regain possession. He missed a sideline jumper on an inbounds. He attacked across the lane and hit the jumphook. He clanked a three. He muscled up a short one off the weave sequence. Off the mark on a pass to a cutting teammate, turnover. Second Half: He fumbled away a post entry pass. He missed a jumphook in the post. Quick attack off the catch from the elbow and he scored a layup. He dunked off the Nance/Russell two-man game that set him up. He blocked Wiggins’ drive and pushed out the break. He pulled down an offensive board and was hacked on the putback, he made one. He was fouled on another putback attempt, he made both. He missed a three. Quick attack from the elbow for an And-1 dunk, but he missed the FT. He hit Russell for the game winner.

Ingram -- -- Not a particularly great game on either end. He had his hands full defensively with Wiggins when they matched up. Offensively, he scratched out a few points. I love how confident he is with his handle. I rarely am concerned when he’s trying to create. When he couldn’t get past his man, though, he’d settle for the tough fade and wasn’t able to get good separation off those with his lack of strength right now. Needs to get a little bump in there to throw the defender off. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-10 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He swiped a handoff and took it for the dunk. He missed a tough fade, not getting a good bump to knock his man back. He drew FTs in transition, he made one. He attacked the paint, missed, got it back, was blocked, got it back, kicked it out, took it from the corner, attacked and was blocked on the layup. Way short on a pull-up jumper. Not a great seal and he lost the post entry out of bounds. He drained a wing three on a kickout. He was called for a double dribble. Aggressive attack from the wing on iso and he drew FTs, he made one. He missed a fade up against the clock. Second Half: He got backdoored for a layup to start the half. Short on a pull-up jumper. He turned the corner to get into the lane, spun, was hacked and hit the And-1 off glass, he made the FT. He attacked the paint with speed and hit Nance for the layup. Off the mark trying to pass out of a double team, turnover.

Clarkson -- -- He led the starters in scoring, but did it quietly. He didn’t dominate the ball or get bogged down in iso battles. He attacked within the flow of the game. Defensively, the Lakers only gave up 2 points to the TWolves starting backcourt. No huge game for Rubio in this one. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He swished a three on a kickout from Russell. He got out of the way of a dunk on help D. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He slithered through the D and flipped in a layup. He pushed out the steal, went behind the back to himself then tossed a lob up to Nance for the dunk. His breakaway layup was goaltended. He picked up his dribble, spun and was blocked. He got a couple bounces on a floater before it dropped in. He missed a pull-up jumper. He attacked and missed a scoop. Second Half: Wild bounce pass in transition, turnover. Weak foul in transition to give up an And-1. He forced up and bricked a three. He curled off a screen, took the pass and hit the floater. He attacked a seam and scored the layup. He attacked with speed on the break and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a sideline three in transition. He swished a floater.

Nance -- -- Got to give Nance some big credit down the stretch. He battled for a couple of offensive boards, imposing his will to regain possessions in the final minute before we finally scored. Then he had the stop of the game as Rubio tried to drive for a score. The Lakers would attack off of that, no timeout and eventually get the score at the buzzer. A great block leaving his man in the corner and smothering that shot. We didn’t play great defensively at times, but the bigs responded in crunch time. He finished with the double-double as well as 6 assists in the all-around game. So this is the impact I expect from Larry. This is where he imposes his athleticism and effort on the game to elevate his overall impact. I’ve been critical on him throughout the season, but I finally think he’s figuring that out. You can see it by his comments and by the frequency he’s getting this bigger impact games. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-7 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 10 boards (6 offensive), 6 assists, 1steal, 2 blocks and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He tapped out a missed FT. He dunked off the lob pass from JC on the break. He pushed out a steal, gave it up, got it back and fumbled it away, turnover. Offensive board, but he threw away the interior feed. He bricked a 16-footer, rushing it despite being open. He grabbed an offensive board and scored the putback. He ballwatched and gave up a dunk. He swatted out an offensive board to regain possession. Second Half: He missed a sideline three. He sank a wing jumper. He hit Randle with an interior feed for the dunk. He dunked off the zip pass from Russell. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Ingram. He fronted and gave up a layup to KAT. Great outlet to Russell for the dunk. Towns overpowered him for a layup. Great job getting to a couple offensive boards and we finally scored. He blocked Rubio’s attack in the paint.

Black -- -- Thought he had some excellent moments defensively tonight. Until the end of the game, our backup bigs were doing a better job on that end of the floor than the starters. Black had multiple blocks as while as a couple of steals. Glad his finishing the season stronger. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-3 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He broke up a lob, then he scored an And-1 layup in transition, he made the FT. He blocked a shot in transition. He blocked a jumphook to get a shotclock violation. Second Half: He was blocked from behind on a dunk. He stripped a man and controlled it to get a stop. He scored a layup on the feed from Metta. He took the interior feed from Ennis in early offense and was fouled, he made both.

Brewer -- -- Not a great scoring came from him, but he did move the ball well. He had a nice feed from the corner to Black for an And-1 off a good sequence in the first half. That was probably his best play of the night. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 assists and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: Nice corner entry to get it to Black for the And-1 layup. Second Half: He changed directions in early offense, attacked across the lane and hit the hook. He missed a wing three on a kickout.

Ennis -- -- Another steady, effective two-way game from Tyler. He had 13 points on 4-5 shooting (3-4 from three) to lead the Lakers in the first half and scraped out a few more points in the second half to lead the team with 20 on an extremely efficient 7-9 shooting. The three ball was money. He was under control all night…love the 5 assists with no turnovers. That was reflective of that control he played with. He mixed things up well between shooting from distance or attacking the closeouts to get to the rim. I don’t know whether the Lakers can sign him back if they want to this offseason. They are restricted in the amount they can pay him. He’s been putting together some excellent two-way games given the minutes lately. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-9 shooting (4-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 5 assists, 1 block and 3 fouls in 22:31. He was a +6. The Action: Perfect behind-the-back pass to Robinson on the break for the And-1 dunk. He pushed up an inbounds and hit the three at the end of the quarter. He missed an open sideline three on a kickout. Great block in transition at the rim to get a stop. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs, he made both. He got his man on his him and swished the FT jumper. He swished a wing three in early offense after several quick passes. He swished another, working off the screen from the same spot. Second Half: He scored a layup on a drive through a couple defenders. He faked off the three line and scored a layup with his left in transition. He hit a tough pull-up wing three. He drew the D and kicked to Metta for three. He couldn’t finish a layup off a hesitation dribble. Quick attack in early offense and he fed Black for FTs.

Robinson -- -- Good first half and then some struggles in the second half. As mentioned, though, the backup bigs had a pretty good defensive game. Robinson led the team with a +9. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 17:34. He was a +9. The Action: He changed directions off the dribble and hit the runner. He threw down an And-1 dunk on the break off the great feed from Ennis, he made the FT. He was stripped in the paint. He missed an elbow pull-up. He threw an interior feed away. He hit a baseline floater. Second Half: He attacked, spun and missed the layup. He fumbled the ball away in the backcourt, then fouled on the And-1 dunk. He missed a layup off an interior pass.

World Peace -- -- I know everyone in Staples wanted Metta to hit that three at the end of the game. He had a good look, but it didn’t go. He came in to start the fourth quarter like the previous game. He sank a couple of threes and hit a bank. We gave him a breather, then brought him back for the close. Some really good two-way minutes from him. I mean if he’s hitting threes, you know you’re still going to get a scrappy defensive effort even at his age. Probably his best game of the year. “I just play hard. There’s nothing else to think about,” Metta said. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He hit Black in the paint on a pass out of the post for a score. He pushed the ball up court, probed and banked in the off-balance fallaway. He missed a wild, fading three in transition. He swished a wing three in transition. He attacked baseline and missed the layup. He swished an open three on a kickout. He was rejected on a drive.

Walton -- -- Russell picked up two fouls early. Ennis in for him midway through the quarter, Lakers up 4… Robinson in for Randle… The Lakers led 29-21 after the first quarter… He started Black, Robinson, Brewer, Russell, Ennis line up… Ennis lighting it up. Lakers up 14 when Randle came in for Black… Nance, Ingram and Clarkson back in… Lakers giving up easy points at the rim as the starters D let up… They led 53-51 at the half. A 16-2 advantage for the Lakers on the break, but they gave up 25 points to Towns… A 13-0 Wolves run between quarters before the Lakers finally scored… The score was tied 70-70 with 3 minutes left in the third… Black in for Randle, Ennis in for Clarkson. Lakers up 2… The Lakers trailed 79-78 heading into the fourth… He started a Black, Robinson, Metta, Brewer, Ennis lineup… The teams traded hoops. The crowd loving it every time MWP touched the ball… The Lakers led by 1 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… He finally brought back JC and Russell with 4 minutes left down 2… Down 1 when Nance and Brewer came back in… Metta back in for Brewer after the breather… The team traded hoops, but the Lakers had a strong final minute from their bigs controlling the paint… The Lakers had 8 blocks on the night. The biggest was Nance’s on the final defensive stand. No timeout as they attacked off that, eventually scoring at the buzzer… “The way it hit the rim and paused in the air, you knew it was going in,” Luke said of Russell’s game winner…

Last edited by DancingBarry on Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:13 am; edited 1 time in total

Thanks DB! In a way I find the Lakers' restriction on Ennis to be a blessing in disguise. He's said he wants to stay in LA and you can argue that would be smart of him as his career's been revitalized a bit. Of course if he gets a 3 yr/ $15M offer he might pack his bags anyways, but he might sign a short and cheap deal to stay in LA. I don't want to overpay him anyways, so it's kind of a win/win._________________https://j.gifs.com/Rnqnbk.gif

Thanks.Veterans win games.
My attachment to the draftees blinds me. They are exciting to watch but not good.

Obviously the FO did not have tanking in mind last summer. Mitch voiced his dislike of the Sixers "process". My understanding was that they wanted to have a balance, to nurture the young and be competitive. It worked for 20 games and then failed miserably.
I wonder how will the new FO approach this off season.

1) It's fascinating how Towns and Wiggins can put up epic stats and yet still have a negligible impact on the outcome of ball games. Same thing happened last game. Something isn't right with this team. The Wolves are only 2 wins better than last season. With all the talent they have and even with guys like Towns having 40/20 nights, this is one of the most disappointing seasons that I can remember from a team.

2) I thought this was really the first game where Ingram didn't have sufficient lift. Despite that, I thought he defended Wiggins as well as anyone could have. Of course it helps that Wiggins is basically just a scorer. I'm skeptical he'll ever make his teammates better, which is why I'd roll with Ingram any day of the week._________________"Stats are killing basketball. This is a very subjective game, a lot of things happen that you can't measure with stats. Very different details matter. The way I see basketball, the most important things don't show up in statistics." - Marc Gasol